


Shadow of a Doubt

by junko



Series: Chasing Demons [34]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Abuse, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied Domestic Violence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-19
Updated: 2013-01-19
Packaged: 2017-11-26 02:00:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/645316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junko/pseuds/junko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Renji finds himself caught between three powerful personalities. However, this would be so much easier to handle if he wasn't drunk off his gourd....</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shadow of a Doubt

Renji wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but Kyōraku was suddenly behind him; the captain’s hands closed around shoulder and waist as though catching Renji before he fell. Ukitake was between him and Byakuya in a flash of emerald green kimono. He felt Byakuya have to let go of the iron grip on his elbow.

“Whoa,” was all Renji really had time to say, before Kyōraku helped him back to the floor with a chuckle.

“There now,” said Kyōraku, kneeling with one leg bent as though ready to spring back into action, “That’s you settled.”

Ukitake and Byakuya, meanwhile, seemed to be having a whispered, heated exchange. Renji could only hear every other word. Byakuya hissed something about ‘touch my lover as I pleased’ and Ukitake’s firm reply of, ‘not under my roof.’ Renji didn’t even realize he was trying to get back up until Kyōraku’s firm hand fell on his shoulder, holding him down.

“Wait for it,” Kyōraku advised, his voice a low rumble in Renji’s ear.

“Very well,” Byakuya said. And, then, in the strangest move ever, Byakuya seemed to collapse into tailor fashion on the floor, with his arms folded in front of his chest petulantly. Renji had only very rarely seen Byakuya sit like that, but it was made ten times more striking and unnerving by the fact that Ukitake was still standing.

Ukitake seemed to frown down at Byakuya for a moment before resuming his place. As he passed, Renji heard a clucking tongue and a mutter of, “Hasn’t changed a bit.” Then, with a long, drawn in breath to collect himself, Ukitake knelt back down and started rummaging through the chest for another bowl. If Renji didn’t know any better, he’d think that the usually unflappable captain was actually a bit irritated.

Kyōraku, on the other hand, seemed to find this whole turn of events deeply amusing. He chuckled to himself as he unceremoniously crawled back over to his spot next to Ukitake. “You always do know how to liven up a party, don’t you, Mr. Byakuya?” He said once he’d settled and readjusted his various kimono and haori.

Byakuya said nothing. His eyes stared resolutely out at the lake, no more than a shadow in the darkening evening. Renji thought his lower lip stuck out a little bit, like a child. Byakuya’s reiatsu was being reined in tightly, but he was clearly ticked off.

Renji dropped his head and stared miserably at the floor. This sucked so much. How much had Byakuya overheard, anyway? What had Renji said? What were they even talking about when Byakuya had busted in?

As he desperately tried to remember, Renji reached thick, clumsy fingers out to right the sake bowl that had spilled when he’d jumped to his feet at Byakuya’s arrival. He used his sleeve to wipe up the bit of liquid from the floor.

“Renji! What are you doing?” Byakuya snapped.

“Uh… I spilled,” he said stupidly, and then pointed where the sake had been. “So I fixed it.”

Byakuya stared at Renji for a beat or two, his mouth compressing into a thinner and thinner line. Then, he turned to Kyōraku. “This is your fault.”

“Oh yes, beyond a shadow of a doubt,” Kyōraku admitted with a laugh. “But it’s nothing to get upset about, Mr. Byakuya.”

“Plus I’d’ve used my sleeve even stone cold sober,” Renji said, speaking slowly and trying not to slur all the ‘s’ sounds. “It’s not like I forgot my company manners; I just never really had ‘em.”

Kyōraku burst out with a strong belly laugh and a, “Ah, yes, good point! You see, Mr. Byakuya, nothing at all to be worried about. Besides, you’re not in company; you’re among friends.”

Byakuya unfolded his arms long enough to pinch the bridge of his nose. He seemed to take a moment to count to ten. To Ukitake he said, “Twenty minutes. That’s all.”

Ukitake had prepared a bowl of sake for Byakuya and held it out to him. Byakuya automatically reseated himself more formally and took the offering with both hands and the barest nod.

But a nod at all? Renji was impressed. He turned to glance at Ukitake, trying to make his addled brain puzzle it out. Ukitake was from some lower family, right? Renji would have heard by now if there was another captain from one of the other major clans, wouldn’t he? Rukia would have mentioned it, surely. So then why was Byakuya being this deferential? All those nobles were interrelated, so maybe Ukitake was some kind of poor cousin? You’d think, if that were the case, Byakuya would have to be nicer to Kyōraku, too, but Byakuya continued to glare at the smiling captain like he hoped he could bore holes in him.

Another moment of tense silence passed before Kyōraku wryly remarked, “Well, well, isn’t this just like old times? You were always such a gregarious and effusive member of the Thirteenth, Mr. Byakuya!”

“Wait, you were in the Thirteenth?” Renji asked, looking at Byakuya.

“Yes,” Byakuya acknowledged, “Just out of Academy. I was first seated here.”

“Not the Sixth?” Renji asked, tugging his ear in confusion. “Didn’t your family request you?”

“Of course I was offered a position with the Sixth,” Byakuya said stiffly. Suddenly looking more embarrassed than angry, he added, “But… I refused it.”

“What? Why?”

Byakuya looked away, at the floor.

“Ginrei wanted him to take over for his father,” Ukitake said, kindness returning to his eyes, “As lieutenant.”

“Straight out of Academy? Holy Crap!” Renji was floored, thinking about how long and hard he’d struggled to come anywhere near being ready to take on the responsibilities of a division and a powerful position like lieutenant. “But… I don’t get it. That’s a plum gig for a green cadet. Why would you refuse something that awesome?”

“That’s just it, isn’t it, Mr. Renji? It’s a little too ‘awesome’ particularly for someone who attended Academy in name only,” Kyōraku said. Byakuya’s eyes flashed up angrily at that, but Kyōraku continued as if none of them had felt the sudden, sharp rise in reiatsu, “More to the point, however, Mr. Byakuya’s father had died in that position no less than five years earlier. It would have been like standing in his shadow--or, perhaps, depending on your point of view, trampling all over it.”

“So I offered a modest seat,” Ukitake said.

“Which was graciously accepted,” Kyōraku continued the story. “Though I’m not sure the realities of service sat very well with our Mr. Byakuya! He seemed so anxious to leave us that he achieved bankai in hardly any time at all.”

“It took several years,” Byakuya said quietly to Renji. To Ukitake he added with a sincere dip of his head, “And I served with pleasure.”

“Of course you did,” Ukitake smiled. To Kyōraku he gave a light slap on the thigh, “Stop mocking the poor boy. It was as difficult for him to be with us as it had been at Academy.”

Renji had leaned back, resting on his hands, watching the conversation volley like it was a ping-pong match. Despite following along carefully, he felt like he’d missed something important.

“Difficult?” Renji was having a really hard time thinking of either Academy or service that way. He loved them both. In fact, there’d hardly been a bigger pleasure in his life, “What was so hard about Academy back then? Was it seriously that much more rigorous?”

Kyōraku laughed, “No, no, the curriculum hasn’t changed in a millennium. But, Mr. Byakuya was hardly allowed the same experiences as you or I, dear boy. True First does not mix with the common folk, you know. We can’t have anyone see a clan head struggle with math or learning kidō! Gods forbid! Someone might mistake them for human!”

Ukitake nodded, “Byakuya attended Academy, but he was tutored privately.”

“What, like the whole time?” He looked at Byakuya, “You never took a class with anyone else? Ever?”

“I rarely took a meal with anyone else,” Byakuya said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

“Oh my god, that sucks so much!” Renji blurted. What he really wanted to do was leap the distance between them and tackle Byakuya in a giant hug. He took a risk a scotched an inch or two closer and put a hand on Byakuya’s thigh. He gave it a gentle, sympathetic squeeze. But knowing Byakuya wouldn’t like intimacy in front of others, he quickly withdrew his hand and satisfied himself by continuing with, “That’s super unfair. You missed the best stuff being hidden away like that! My best memories of Academy are all the late night forays over the wall and that one time study group got so raucous that the librarian kicked us out and we had an impromptu shunpō competition in the snow. I still have a scar on my knee from that monumental skid,” Renji pulled up the leg of his hakama to show it off. “That was legendary, man! How can you not have any of that? Those are the memories that makes it all the rest worth it!”

Byakuya was smiling softly at Renji’s antics. He leaned in to say, “You must tell me more about this legendary skid some time, privately. But, please don’t be too indignant on my behalf. It wasn’t all so tortuous; I did manage to get up to some mischief in Academy.”

Despite Byakuya’s low tone, Kyōraku instantly honed in, “Oh? What sort of mischief?”

Byakuya took a delicate sip of sake, and then said, “I was keeping a mistress.”

“Well, well, well!” Kyōraku nodded approvingly. “That’s impressively naughty, indeed!”

“He did marry her, remember,” Ukitake pointed out, “The whole affair was ultimately very noble.”

Renji found himself out of the loop again. “How is a fiancée an affair?”

“When you’re betrothed to someone else, of course,” Kyōraku explained, reaching out to offer the bottle to Renji.

Renji shook his head. He’d had too much already. He rubbed the corner of his eye as he slowly thought this revelation through, “So Hisana wasn’t your betrothed? Oh, right--how could she be, she was just some Inuzuri working girl. Hey, wow, different time, you could have picked up me!” Renji laughed to himself at the idea. “Though I don’t see you going into no alley for a quickie, but, maybe--we do have a bit of alley between us, don’t we?” Oblivious to everyone’s horrified expressions, Renji continued with a low whistle, “Damn. You sure have a type, don’t you?”

“Renji, that’s quite enough. You’re shaming yourself as well as me,” Byakuya said. A hand gripped Renji’s sleeve at the bicep, “Perhaps it’s time we go home.”

Renji felt himself hauled upright on unsteady legs.

“Wha…? Oh, okay, I guess,” Renji said, blinking in confusion. “I thought you found me charming two minutes ago.”

“Yes, that was two minutes ago,” Byakuya said. He had both hands on Renji’s arms now, ostensibly to hold him upright, but Renji could feel Byakuya’s anger bruising his skin. “Now, you’re trying my patience.”

“‘K,” Renji smiled sloppily. His head felt really light and loopy now that he was suddenly on his feet, and it struck him that Byakuya was really cute when he was mad. Renji wondered if anyone had ever had the guts to tell Byakuya so. What Renji really wanted to do was to lean in and kiss Byakuya on the nose. In fact, he started to until he felt thumbs digging painfully into his muscles, “Oh, hey, ouch.”

Byakuya’s gray eyes flashed with warning.

 _So cute!_ Renji smiled goofily back.

Ukitake was on his feet. “I think the boy should spend the night here, Byakuya. He’s very unsteady and you can’t carry him. He’ll never make it in the state he’s in. The Sixth is clear across the Seireitei.”

“Nah, I can totally shunpō drunk. I’ve had loads of practice,” Renji said, trying to wave an arm to dismiss Ukitake’s concern only to find Byakuya still clasping it tightly. He ended up making an awkward sort of flap. He turned back to the scowling Byakuya and tried not to chuckle as he smiled lasciviously into the face of a very stony, irritated Byakuya. “But, you know, maybe we could end up in a pile like I did with all those guys back at Academy. Then you and me could have some more outdoor fun, eh?”

Renji went in for another kiss. This time it connected on cool, thin lips. But Renji instantly sensed that something was wrong. It wasn’t just Byakuya’s complete unresponsiveness that clued him in, either. A second after he’d closed his eyes and kissed there was the oddest sensation of a breeze that ruffled his hair and the light touch knuckles pressing against his cheek. 

Knuckles?

It was that last bit that made him snap open his eyes and pull back sharply. Byakuya’s hand was still an iron grip on Renji’s left bicep, but Byakuya’s other had raised, as though to slap, only to have been caught by Ukitake.

It had been Ukitake’s knuckles Renji had felt. 

“What’s going on?” Renji demanded, but he might as well have been invisible to the two of them, despite the fact that he was obviously the focus of their argument.

“Unhand me,” Byakuya said in the tone Renji usually read with an added, _‘if you want to live.’_

Ukitake let go Byakuya, but he didn’t back off. “I warned you, Byakuya. Now release the boy and leave him with us.”

“No. As I told you, Captain, you may mind your own business.”

“Oh, ho! Good luck with that,” Kyōraku laughed, despite the tension. He stood to flank Ukitake. “Meddling is our middle name. You should know that by now, Mr. Byakuya.”

Renji raised his free hand. “Can I say something? Because I’m good. No one has to get this worked up, okay? Can we just all chill out, so I can go home?”

“Yes, thank you, Renji,” Byakuya said curtly. “So you see, the matter is settled. Step aside, Captain.”

Ukitake stood firm. Renji was getting a great view of green kimono and long, flowing white hair, which, as drunk as he was, he had to actively resist pulling. Especially, since Ukitake sounded so deadly serious as he said, “Only if you promise me on your honor, on your family’s name, that this boy will come to no harm at your hand.”

Renji gawped. "Wha...?"

“This is ridiculous,” Byakuya said, though he did finally drop Renji’s arm. “Are you accusing me of abuse? And I can make no such promise. He’s my subordinate. Would you refuse me the right to discipline a soldier under my command?”

“I would,” Ukitake said without a moment’s hesitation. “Did you ever see me raise a hand to any of mine while you served here? There are a thousand ways to earn respect and enforce order without resorting to violence, as surely a man of your station and breeding well knows.”

Renji found himself flinching on Byakuya’s behalf, thinking, ‘Dropped the noble card, eh? Ouch.’ Now Byakuya would look like a low-class bruiser if he didn’t step down, back off. Well played, Renji thought, well fucking played.

“Indeed,” Byakuya said, his voice controlled and tight, “Which is why I don’t understand the meaning of this. I can’t believe you’d think me capable of such things.”

It was like some kind of verbal feint-and -parry, Renji thought, and Byakuya had deftly avoided a hit.

“Then make the promise,” Ukitake insisted, “Give your word as a nobleman that you will never again strike your lover in anger, only in play.”

“What the fuck?” Renji added, just as Byakuya said, “Done.”

“Wait, why was there a provision for play?—uh, not that I’m necessarily objecting, but--” Renji continued. “Seriously, do I get no opinion on this?”

Kyōraku patted him on the shoulder patronizingly, “The lamb, dear boy, can’t decide his fate. Best leave that to the lions.”

“Fuck you,” Renji spat instantly, Zabimaru echoing the growl in his voice. “I ain’t no one’s lamb. I’m at least part tiger. I’ll take on a lion any day.”

“And so you have,” Kyōraku agreed softly. “But now you must learn how to lie with a lion without the both of you ending up bloodied or dead.”

Renji glanced at Byakuya, who met his gaze over Ukitake’s shoulder. “Come on, Taicho. We don’t have to take this insult. Let’s go home.”

Renji could almost see the tension leave Byakuya’s shoulders in the slight smile that played at the edge of his lips, “Yes, Renji. That would suit me perfectly. Good day, gentlemen.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, yeah, this kind of took an unexpected turn, but I think this will give our boys a chance to talk about this somewhat troubling part of their relationship. It's a huge blind spot to both of them, otherwise. (And, don't worry. The two couples will make up eventually, though there's always a bit of tension between Ukitake and Byakuya in canon, so that probably won't entirely go away.)


End file.
